Vauxhall Mallards get their EAPL campaign up and running

Vauxhall Mallards really needed to get their first league win of the season last weekend to pull away from the lower reaches of the Gibbs Denley East Anglian League - and after a nailbiting finally they duly got it.

Visitors Burwell made 259-9 pff their 50 overs at Halvergate and Mallards got home with one wicket and two balls to spare after finishing on 262-9.

Captain Alistair Shearer won the toss and put Burwell, who started the day one place above Mallards, into bat.

Their openers Thomas Jagot and Simon Donald made a very solid start to put on 107 for the first wicket after 20 overs.

Ben France, bowling his first EAPL spell for Mallards since his move from Horsford, made the breakthrough, getting Jagot lbw for 75.

Donald went on to help keep Burwell’s total ticking over and when he was out for 72, the total was 217-4. Adam Todd came back on for his second spell and cleaned up the tail, finishing with figures of 4-61.

It was a good afternoon for Mallards’ fielders with Tom Miller, John Ewart, Harry Barker and Luke Caswell taking some great catches.

Burwell had set a target of 260 for Mallards’ to chase.

John Ewart and Matthew Plater, last weekend’s run-makers, were not able to do it again but Mitchell Todd and France took on the challenge. They had to cope with a delay for bad light but no overs were lost.

They batted well together to put on 97 for the third wicket, with France making 50 and Todd going on to make 104 in only 100 balls with 11 fours and four sixes.

At the fall of his wicket Mallards were 200 for five, 60 away from the target with 11 overs left. It was a tense time for the home side but Shearer and Paul Bradshaw kept the home side in with a chance. Bradshaw hit three vital boundaries in the 47th over and he hit another in the 50th over, with his side nine down, to get the vital win.

Swardeston were Mallards’ opponents again on Sunday, this time in the ECB Club Championship, but it wasn’t such a good day against the holders of the title.

Swardeston elected to bat first and made 248 all out, with Joe Gatting batting well again for 70 and Stephen Gray for 62.

Mallards’ batsmen couldn’t get a good reply going and fell short on 196, with the final wicket falling in the final over.